ImportError: cannot import name 'ensure_str' from 'six' (/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/six.py)

Question

I am receiving this error on multiple commands, similar to the problem explained in this question. But I am not even able to run it in sudo, non-sudo(if thats a thing) and also root account(I specifically logged into the root account to run this, but failed)

Here is the error I am thrown every time.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/pip", line 11, in <module>
    load_entry_point('pip==20.0.2', 'console_scripts', 'pip')()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pip/_internal/cli/main.py", line 73, in main
    command = create_command(cmd_name, isolated=("--isolated" in cmd_args))
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pip/_internal/commands/__init__.py", line 96, in create_command
    module = importlib.import_module(module_path)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/importlib/__init__.py", line 127, in import_module
    return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1014, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 991, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 975, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 671, in _load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 783, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 219, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pip/_internal/commands/freeze.py", line 12, in <module>
    from pip._internal.operations.freeze import freeze
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pip/_internal/operations/freeze.py", line 17, in <module>
    from pip._internal.req.constructors import (
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pip/_internal/req/__init__.py", line 11, in <module>
    from .req_file import parse_requirements
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pip/_internal/req/req_file.py", line 25, in <module>
    from pip._internal.req.constructors import (
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pip/_internal/req/constructors.py", line 28, in <module>
    from pip._internal.req.req_install import InstallRequirement
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pip/_internal/req/req_install.py", line 30, in <module>
    from pip._internal.operations.install.wheel import install_wheel
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pip/_internal/operations/install/wheel.py", line 33, in <module>
    from pip._internal.utils.wheel import parse_wheel
  File "/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/pip/_internal/utils/wheel.py", line 12, in <module>
    from pip._vendor.six import PY2, ensure_str
ImportError: cannot import name 'ensure_str' from 'six' (/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/six.py)

Note : I was initially trying to install tensorflow, then other commands like pip freeze and pip uninstall some-package also threw this error.

I have already tried reinstalling pip without any errors. I am on Manjaro, so i ran

pacman -Rcn python-pip

and then

pacman -S python-pip

@EbenezerIsaac. Try running code inside virtual environment and installing packages inside virtual environment. That worked for me. — SahilDesai, May 21 '20 at 11:36
@SahilDesai Is there no way I can reinstall the whole thing and fix it? — Ebenezer Isaac, May 21 '20 at 11:40
@EbenezerIsaac I ran code on windows machine and i just did was deleted previous virtual environment and created a new one. — SahilDesai, May 21 '20 at 11:42
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/61727705/pyhton-pip-importerror-cannot-import-name-ensure-str-from-six-on-multiple#comment109305263_61727705 To upgrade six without pip: download six-1.14.0.tar.gz, extract and run python setup.py install — phd, May 21 '20 at 12:46

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Sep 15 '20 at 12:36

1

$ pacman -S extra/python-six did the trick!

edited Sep 15 '20 at 12:36

Prunus Persica

1,173
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answered Sep 15 '20 at 09:26

Germain

26
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Hi there, welcome to Stack Overflow! Could you provide a short explanation of how you reached this solution? – Prunus Persica Sep 15 '20 at 10:10

ImportError: cannot import name 'ensure_str' from 'six' (/usr/lib/python3.8/site-packages/six.py)

1 Answers1